Keeping the Dons on track for League Cup semi-final

Morag Kuc

ScotRail has confirmed it will run a ‘football special’ service to help Aberdeen fans get to the Aberdeen v Greenock Morton Scottish League Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on October 22.

This special train departs Aberdeen station at 08.10hrs on Saturday October, 22, and travels straight to Glasgow Queen Street arriving at 10.57hrs. Tickets will cost £43 return for adults and £16 return for children. The ticket cost also covers fans’ additional travel by ScotRail train from Glasgow Central Station to Mount Florida.

For the return journey, the train departs Glasgow Queen St at 15.24hrs, arriving back to Aberdeen at 18.22hrs. Should there be extra time/penalties which delay the end of the match, the train will depart at 16.23 hrs, arriving Aberdeen at 19.23hrs.

Tickets for this special service can be bought in Aberdeen Station Travel Shop from 1pm today and between 10am-9pm weekdays on a first come first served basis. Weekend opening hours are 10am-5pm.

Fans are encouraged to plan ahead and book their tickets for travel as all timetabled Aberdeen services will be busy and they may be unable to board if seats are booked.

Two direct, scheduled services leave Aberdeen earlier, at 05:26 and 06:33 but are already likely to be fully loaded with customers not travelling to the match. A third scheduled service – involving a change at Haymarket, departs Aberdeen at 06:46.

Jacqueline Taggart, ScotRail Alliance Customer Experience Director said: “The special trains means a guaranteed seat for Dons’ fans. Our advice would be to travel on these services if possible.”

Jacqueline Taggart continued: “We are going through a massive period of change on Scotland’s railway and this will invariably impact on people’s services.

“This train means Aberdeen football fans can travel to support their team and have a great day out. I ask fans to book early to avoid disappointment as we expect demand for tickets on the ‘Dons Express’ to be high.”

An Aberdeen Football Club spokesperson said: “We are very pleased that ScotRail has made the effort to provide an extra option for our supporters to get to Hampden in good time for this match. Our supporters are renowned for travelling across Scotland in large numbers and we support any move that can help them to back the team.”